Mark Levine talks Jewish community’s ‘deliberate show of defiance’ following Sydney attack

The antisemitic terror attack that killed at least 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday occurred nearly 10,000 miles away from New York City, in Sydney, Australia. But the mass shooting reverberated in Jewish communities in the five boroughs gathering for their own Hanukkah celebrations.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who takes office next month as New York City comptroller, was one of the Jewish elected officials who attended public menorah lightings Sunday night, in what he called a “show of defiance.”

City & State caught up with him Monday to discuss New York City’s response to the attack, his confidence in a robust police presence and what he hopes to see from Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s administration.

The attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney, he noted, is the latest in a string of violent attacks targeting Jewish communities, including in Washington D.C., Boulder, Colorado, and Manchester, England. “I think Jewish communities want leaders to acknowledge that and acknowledge that there’s a reason why people are feeling scared right now,” Levine said.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

You said you received a lot of messages from Jewish New Yorkers after the attack in Australia asking about whether menorah lightings on the first night of Hanukkah would be safe. What did you hear from them, and how did you respond?

It was quite a traumatic day for many people. The gathering on Bondi Beach is very familiar to people in New York City – almost exactly like what we do around public menorahs all over the city every year, and people understandably were nervous. It helped that the NYPD under Commissioner (Jessica) Tisch very quickly put out a statement committing to redouble police resources at these events. And I have to say, turnout was huge everywhere that I got reports from. I was at three events myself personally yesterday, and each of them had more people than I’d seen at those events in previous years, despite the frigid temperatures. It was a sense of people wanted to be together, to sort of process the pain of the day. It was also a deliberate show of defiance, to say we’re not going to go into hiding. It’s Hanukkah, and one of the holidays to shine a light in the darkness, and a story about the hero, Judah Maccabee, who stood up against long odds. And for all those reasons, it had enormous resonance, more than usual. I was very, very proud of the Jewish communities of New York last night.

What do you hope to see out of the next mayoral administration when it comes to fighting antisemitism? What role do you expect to have in partnering on that work as comptroller?

We want, first off, the NYPD to continue to be a partner. They really were yesterday, just a very robust police presence at all the events that I went to, really more than I have seen in recent years. It’s very important, practically, to keep people safe – God forbid if there’s an incident. But it also sends a message that your city cares about you. That has to continue, really – I hope and expect it will. I think the mayor-elect has indicated that it will, and I know the police commissioner committed to that.

Some Jewish New Yorkers have expressed fears that Mayor-elect Mamdani will not be as focused on fighting antisemitism. Is that a concern that you share at all, and have you discussed that with the mayor-elect?

I’ve discussed it with Jewish leaders and with the mayor-elect himself, and he has repeatedly assured me and many others that this is going to be a priority of his, and he will do everything he can to keep the Jewish community safe. And I need to make sure that happens, but I think the commitment he’s expressed – with the commitment of Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch – gives me confidence that, indeed, that protection will be provided.

This weekend we also saw a deadly mass shooting at Brown University and a mass shooting here in Brooklyn that left six teenagers injured. When you look at the fact that we have, on the one hand, pretty tough gun laws in New York and had been tracking recent lows for shootings in New York City, but on the other hand, we still have incidents like Sunday in Brooklyn or the Midtown shooting over the summer, how do you think about what actions are within New York leaders’ power to fight gun violence? 

Any one of these incidents would have made for a painful weekend, but to have all three was almost too much to bear. What’s so frustrating for us in New York City is that our gun laws are not the problem. But in a country of 50 states, you’re only as safe as the weakest state. The guns that are killing people on our streets are coming from elsewhere, coming from a handful of other states. We need national action here, we need common-sense gun safety legislation passed at the national level, and there’s a variety of measures that have overwhelming support … and the fact that they’re going nowhere is infuriating. My God, this one thing stuck with me at Brown – there were several students, like at least two, who had themselves been victims of school shootings in high school, and now a second time in Brown. … Obviously, (New York City) can’t just throw up our hands, because lives are on the line. And yeah, we’ve made progress, we have to do more. The incident in Brooklyn, I believe, has been identified as being gang-related, and reminds us that we have to do more to go after gang-related violence. We have made progress on that, but very few of the shootings are random. They’re often among people who know each other or are related to disputes, and there are a lot of things we can do to diffuse that – direct police intervention, but also the crisis management system, which can sometimes identify conflicts before they escalate.

Are you planning to attend more Hanukkah celebrations this week? What’s your message to Jewish New Yorkers who may be apprehensive about celebrating?

I have several more planned throughout the week. Obviously, the first night of Hanukkah is always the biggest, but we’ve got seven days to go. My message to Jewish New Yorkers is that I understand why people are nervous, but I want people to know we have the best police department in the world, and they are really committing to keeping these celebrations safe. … And look, I’m not going to be judgmental here of what other New Yorkers do, but I’m going to tell you my personal feeling is that we have even more reason to be open and public and out there, celebrating this holiday, celebrating who we are, literally shining a candle in the darkness. I’m incredibly proud of what happened last night across dozens and dozens of public events throughout the city, and I hope it continues for the remainder of the holiday and beyond.

We’re just a few weeks away from you taking office as comptroller. What does the transition look like right now? Are you working with outgoing Comptroller Brad Lander’s team? 

We’ve been deeply, deeply immersed in the transition process. It’s a large and complicated office with a lot of really important technical functions. Compared to the transition into becoming a City Council member that I remember from 12 years ago, this is next level. It’s going great, (feeling) really, really good about the team we’re assembling. And I have to compliment the outgoing controller, Brad Lander. He and his team have been extremely helpful to us throughout the transition process, and that makes it a lot easier. We’re looking forward to the countdown to New Year’s Day, where we’re excited for a very big, public ceremony marking the beginning of this new era.